Celtics take 2-0 lead, Jaylen Brown scores 23 points

BOSTON, Massachusetts — The Boston Celtics took a 2-0 lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers, behind a 107-94 win in Game 2 on Tuesday night in the Eastern Conference finals.

Jaylen Brown led six Celtics players who reached double figures with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Terry Rozier added 18 points, while Al Horford finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds as Boston improved to 9-0 this postseason at TD Garden. The Celtics outscored the Cavs 59-39 in the second half.

“The most encouraging thing to me was that we weathered that storm,” C’s coach Brad Stevens said of James’ initial outpour, “because it’s easy to kind of fall apart there.”

“I think the biggest thing is we were just trying to make it as hard as possible,” said Stevens. “And I think that we all have a good grasp that that’s not always going to work. So, don’t hang your head; go down and score. And then if you can make it as hard as possible for as long as possible, maybe you can get somewhere.”

Lebron James scored a game-high 42 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for his fifth 40-point game of this postseason. Kevin Love finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland. Kyle Korver added 11 points off the bench for Cleveland.

“We’ve got to be tougher. I think they’re playing tougher than we are. We see that. They’re being physical. They’re gooning the game up and we’ve got to do the same thing.” — Cavaliers coach Ty Lue